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« riLLIAM HOOPER, « 

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED TO THE STUDENTS OF THE 

JANUARY 31, 1838, 

BY 

WILLIAM HOOPER, 

LATE PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES 

IN THAT INSTITUTION, /<^' "^ *^^"^'?^^j 
JVOW 

THEOLOGICAL PROFESSOR IN THE FURMAN INSTITUTION, 

NEAR WINNSBORO', S. C. 



RALEIGH: 

PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE RALEIGH REGISTER. 

1838. 



LB 



6>3 



Chapel Hilly January 24, 1838. 

REV. SIR : 

At a meeting of the Students of the University of North- 
Carolina, the undersigned were appointed a Committee to tender you their 
thanks for the able and eloquent Address, delivered before them on the 
21st inst. and to request of you a copy of the same for publication. You 
will add another to the many obligations under which we already lie, by 
complying with this our request. 

We remain, with sentiments of respect and est<?em, 
Yours truly, 

D. D. FEREBEE, 
P. E. BRADLEY, . ^ 

JAS. SOMMERVILLE, ^ ^omm. 
WM. M. McPHEETERS, 
To the Rev. Wm. Hooper, LLD. 



] 



GENTLEMEN : 

The Address, whose publication you request, is at your 
service, though it will need your indulgence and that of the public, for 
its want of unity in style and design. You know it was expected to be 
delivered on an evening in the week ; but circumstances preventing, and 
my last opportunity of addressing you being from the Pulpit, it was 
thought best to combine the Address with such additions as would ac- 
commodate it to the more sacred occasion. This, it is hoped, will excuse 
its mixed character. 

I remain, with the best wishes. Gentlemen, 

Your sincere friend, 

W. HOOPER. 



ADDRESS 



Proverbs i, 7-9. — The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of knowledge ; hut fools despise wisdom and instruction. 
My son.) hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not 
the law of thy mother : For they shall be an ornament of 
grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. 

It is an inestimable advantage to a young man to 
have a system of action. When this is the case, his 
•course will be uniform, steady and consistent; always 
governed by fixed rules, and tending towards the great 
object he has set before him. But the misfortune of 
most young men is, that they have no system of action — 
they are governed by impulse — they love pleasure and 
they yield themselves up to its allurements. The next 
day they see their error, and perhaps feel the punish- 
jnent of it in sickness or in remorse. They then resolve 
to amend their conduct, and, for a few days, they are 
firm in their purpose — they tliink they can depend on 
the stability of their virtuous determinations. But 
presently, temptation and passion return witli all their 
force, and they find to their sorrow that th^ir virtuous 
resolutions are no more a match against the depraved 
inclinations of nature than the green withes w^ere able 
to bind the hands of Sampson. Thus their course be- 
comes nsteady, fitful and capricious — sometimes they 
are wise, sometimes foolish — sometimes honorable and 
<lignified, sometimes groveling and base. While a 
young main's course is thus wayward and inconsistent^ 
he cannot have self respect — he can»K)t approve of him- 



4 PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 

self— he cannot be happy. The better principles with- 
in bim lash and chastise him for rebelling against them, 
and he is degraded in his own eyes. You see lowering 
discontent upon his brow — you see his inward vexation 
venting itself in unamiable tempers towards his com- 
panions, or those in authority over him. He is obliged 
to make the humiliating confession — 

Video meliora proboque, 
Deteviora sequor : 
I sec the right, and I approve it too, 
Condemn the wrong and yet the wrong pursue. 

How different the aspect and the feelings of the 
young man who pursues a steady system of virtue ! 
Upon him the sun rises brightly in the morning, and 
that sun is not more cheerful than are bis spirits, nor 
brighter than his prospects. No corroding remorse 
is gnawing at his heart — no vicious excesses make his 
blood feverish, his temper soui' and irritable and his 
countenance sad. He is cheered on bis way by an aj)- 
])roving conscience. His hopes are kept gay and bis 
energies elastic, by regularity, temperance and indus- 
try, and by the animating consideration, tjiat he is 
mounting upward — that he is constantly approaching 
the bright object of bis desires by an undeviating course 
of rectitude and honor. This is the happy and hon- 
orable course, to which, my dear young friends, I would 
stimulate and impel you; these are the bright and cheer- 
ing prospects with which I woiild wish your collegiate 
career to be gladdened and adorned. And, therefore, 
I have chosen the words of the wisest of men, as em- 
bodying the best advice I could possibly give you, at 
this final hour of my intercourse with you. The mo- 
tives which those words present to the young man for 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 5 

llie control of liis conduct, are, the fear of tlie Lord 
and tlic honoring of parents. The consequences that 
\vill result from obedience to these motives are depict- 
ed in the most attractive terms. The adornment of 
character with which they invest a young man, are 
likened to a coronet of gems about his head and a 
chain of gold about his neck. " Tiie fear of the Lord 
is the beginning of knowledge/' If you begin with 
this, you will be prevented from falling into irretrieva- 
ble errors and faults. We gain knowledge by expe- 
rience, as our lives proceed ; but unhappily, it often 
comes too late, and we must hear the penalty of our 
though tlessjiess or ignorance, ever afterwards. How 
happy is it then, to !iave early and deeply laid in our 
hearts the pious fear of God — a constant sense of his 
presence — an overawing thought constantly whispering 
fo us, *'Tiiou God scest me." This will da more to 
control passion, arid to strengthen conscience, than all 
our spider-web resolutions. Let a young man once 
have deeply infixed in his mind, that whenever he sins, 
he insults the great God to his face, tramples on his 
authority, and defies his wrath — and that, on the other 
hand, when he resists sinful incliiiations. and manfully 
performs his duty, the great God is smiling upon him 
and helping him, and will finally reward him — and this 
simple principle will do more to keep his morals uncon- 
taminatedj than all other motives w hatever ; because it 
operates alike in private as in public — it fluctuates not 
with the opinions and practices of those who happen to 
he our associates — it varies not with the circumstances 
in which we are placed — but is steady and invariable, 
like the movements of the heavenly bodies around their 
grand centre. 



5 riioi'EssoR hooper's valedictory address. 

But it is well to enlist all tlie motives we can on the 
side of virtue; and therefore, the inspired writer brings 
in, next after the fear of God, a regard to the authority 
and happiness of Parents: "My son, hear the instruc- 
tion of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mo- 
ther." What a wise and happy arrangement of Provi- 
dence is it, that the human race should ail be distributed 
into families I Of how many countless benefits and en- 
dearments is it productive ! But for this, all the tender 
connexions and mutual kindnesses of husband and wife, 
parent and child, brother and sister, would hardly be 
known, or very feebly felt, in comparison with what is 
now the case. Who but must contemplate with pro- 
found veneration and delight the beautiful skill displayed 
in that contrivance of the author of our nature, whereby 
a human being, when he is brought into the world utterly 
helpless, has helpers provided for him as soon as he is 
born ?— the powerful instinct of maternal love amply 
supplying to the infantile stranger the want of facul- 
ties to jneserve itself — and rearing it up with untiring 
vigilance and affection, through a protracted minority, 
unworn out by care or sickness, unconqueied by ingra- 
titude and undutifulness. This long exercise of paren- 
tal care and authority suj)plies to the Parent on the 
ojichand a delightfulexerciseof the domestic affections, 
and a pleasing stimulus to action ; and on the other 
hand, trains up the rising generation to wholesome sub- 
mission — to yield an unquestioning obedience to the 
dictation and guidance of our Parents, when our own 
inexperience and headstrong wills make their sober 
judgment and discretion so necessary to us. By this 
wise and beautiful arrangement of Providence, the child 
has, during the wiiolo time he is growing i\[) to matu- 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 7 

rity, the benefit of the Parent's care and wisdom, while 
hy his love and gratitude lie pays back into that Parent's 
bosom a rich harvest of joy. Ali ! none but a Parent can 
feel the force of those words, "A wise son maketh a glad 
father ; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.'' 
Next to the honor we owe to God, is that which we 
owe to our Parents ; and accordingly, in the Decalogue, 
we find, immediately after an enumeration of our duty 
to God, the precept: ** Honour thy father and thy mo- 
ther," to which is annexed the promise **thy days shall 
be long." 

He that honors his Parents will be preserved, by 
that sentiment abiding in liis heart, from any conduct 
which will bring grief or shame upon tliem, and the 
thought of their approving smile and benediction will 
stimulate to a course of honorable effort, and sweeten 
all his toils. You remember tiie fine anecdote that is 
told of the famous Theban commander, EpaminondaSf 
perhaps the greatest man that Greece produced: Amidst 
the congratulatiorjs tiiat thronged in upon him after he 
had beaten tlie Spartans, at Leuctra, he said the most 
pleasing emotion he reaped from his victory was the 
thought, how hapj)y his mother would be made by his 
success. And is there a youth in this house, insensible 
to such amiable feelings ? Is there a Student in 
this University, who does not feel his heart throb with 
pleasure, when he tiiinks tiiat the family circle at homo 
will be made happier by the arrival of the letter which 
informs them of his honorable rank in his Class, and 
his irreproachable character as a member of College ? 
And, on the other hand, is there one, whose heart is not 
pained by the expectation, that those affectionate Pa- 
rents and friends, who are Indulging in the deli£:;htful 



8 moFEssoR hooper's valedictory address. 

belief that lie is doing well in that distant seminary — 
that he is coming home, by and by, to honour the family, 
and raise its nametomoic distinction than it now beai's — 
that they arc to have all these pleasing anticipations 
blasted, and their countenances saddened by the next 
monthly report, announcing irregularity, mis-improve- 
i«ent of time, and want of scholarship! No good mind 
can contemplate such an issue with indifference, can think 
of being the cause of overclouding with sadness the belov- 
ed group gathered around the fireside at home, without a 
pang of sorrow and a blush of shame. It is to tiiis amiable 
and virtuous feeling that the discipline of the College 
appeals, hoping to do more by this means in stimulating 
industry and restraining vice, than by any other. It is 
honorable to you, to appeal to this tender regard for the 
peace and happiness of your homes. It is supposing 
you possessed of the finest feelings of the heart, w hen 
your officers act on the persuasion, that to communicate 
favorable or unfavorable intelligence to your Parents, 
will be the most efficient means they can employ of im- 
pelling you forward in a course of laudable diligence and 
regularity. The force of this motive must be appreciated 
by those who, by the stroke of Providence, have been 
made orphans. What youth, thus left to early orphan- 
age, does not feel one strong impulsive consideration 
taken aw^^y, and that he is obliged to supply its place 
by the reflection that he is cast upon his own resources, 
and must struggle or sink? 

** Fools," says the wise man, " despise wisdom and 
instruction." Surely no one present w(mld consent to 
merit so harsh an imputation ; and yet a neglect to im- 
prove valuable advantages of acquiring wisdom, is tan- 
tamount to despising it. It is my wish, therefore, my 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 9 

dear young friends, to avail niyscirof this occasion, to 
impress upon you a proper estimate of tiie enviable pri- 
vileges of your present academical situation, and your 
consequent responsibilities. Tiiemistocles counted him- 
self happy that he belonged to the most illustrious city 
of Greece. You belong to the National Institution of 
your native State. It is patronized by the first citizens 
of the State. It is an object of tlicir frequent attention 
and of their annual visitation. Here their sons meet 
to form friendshijis for life, to measure their minds with 
each otiier, to rouse each other's powers by honorable 
competition, to wrestle for victory on the bloodless arena 
of elegant liteiature and profound science. Nations 
take a pride in collecting into one grand Repository the 
finest productions of genius, in all branches of the 
Arts; and when strangers come among them, they lead 
them to these Repositories, as the noblest trophies of 
national iioiior. But a collection of fine minds is a much 
nobler object of contemplation than collections of pic- 
tures and statues. Tiie one is the creative spirit that 
originates the bright conception, and then seizes upon 
some rude mass of unconscious matter, where it may 
embody and [)erpetuatc that bright conception, for the 
gaze and homage of all after ages. The other is the 
mere passive material, that has no value save as a mir- 
ror to reflect the godlike mind which brought it into 
being. Who ever received, from a survey of all the 
miracles of tiie pencil and the chisel, which adorn the 
galleries of the Louvre and the Tuileries, an enjoy- 
ment to be comi»ared with that divine enthusiasm which 
dilates and burns in tlie bosoms of an audience witness- 
ing the conflict of migiity minds in some great national 
debate! The human mind never knows and never dc- 



10 PROFESSOR hooper's valedictory address. 

vclopes its puissance, until called into glorious struggle 
with sonic rival intellect, with a world lookijig on in 
suspense, bowing before it in its victorious march, like 
the trees of the forest before the sweep of the hurricane. 
Wliilc you read tlie campaigns of Gustavus or Charles 
XII., of Napoleon and Wellington, do your bosoms ever 
catch the mania of military renown, and make you pant 
for the stern and perilous c{]ge of battle ? Let me point 
you to a nobler ambition! Show mc your hero who 
makes it his pride to muster on tlie deadly field myriads 
of his fellow creatures full of life and hope, upon whose 
fate fathers and mothers and wives and sisters, at home, 
are hanging in agony, and then, with a single wave of 
his hand, bidding his ranks of cannon to blast all these 
thousands of souls into eternity, and to strow the earth 
with theiv mangled bodies ! Do you admire his bright 
and overwhelming career ? Then go and admire the 
volcano w hich whelmed Pomi)cii and Herculaneum under 
its rivers of burning lava; go and worshi]) tlie earthquake 
which swallowed up Lisbon and Aleppo — go and pour 
forth your praises upon tlie conflagration which devoured 
a London or a Moscow. Yet youthful hearts must have 
something splendid and something grand to kindle and 
expand them. Come then, and I will point you to 
something which I will give you leave to admire, and 
prompt you to emulate. It is not the empurpled hom- 
icide, who finds an ignominious gloi*y in ruling pale 
nations by the terror of artillery and the bayonet. It 
is the orator, who spreads his sweet encJjantment over 
millions of cultivated intellects, who leads captive in 
his silken chains, iiosts of willing minds, jjroud of their 
caj)tivity, gioryjtig not only in the might of their con- 
qiieioi-, but in (he haj)piness of being concpiered — elated 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 1 I 

with the inspiring thought that it is almost as glorious 
to own the swelling hearts that can feel tiie force of such 
eloquence, as to ])ossess the melodious tongue that dis- 
tils it. So yon fruit-tree, tli^t, all leafless and bare, 
begins to drink in the golden beam of spring, feels the 
vital warmtli distending all its veins, and presently 
bursts forth in luxuriant beauty, doing honor indeed to 
tlie solar radiance wliich elicited its bloom, but rival- 
ing that radiance by its own ! If you want something 
wherewith to inflame your young hearts with pleasing 
ardour, the history of your own coujitry will furnish 
tjje materials. View the orators of our country, wiio 
have arisen in times of national trouble, with no aids 
of power or family rank, by the mere force of mind 
and voice rousing up and uniting the minds of thousands 
in a general enthusiasm of liberty, making tlie rich man 
run and pour his treasures at their feet — the strong 
man offer liis right hand to grasp the sword and his 
breast to meet the cannon ball — and even the timid 
^reast of woman willing to give up a husband, a sou 
or a brother, for the common weal. These are the 
glorious trophies of the mind. Here are laurels 
which even a christian brow need not be ashamed to 
wear. But will you say tiiat such honors are high a- 
bove our reach — that it is only a few minds of tlie finest 
mould that can aspire to the sublime achievements of 
eloquence ? I admit it ; but if we have these prodigies 
of nature scattered througli our country, our Colleges 
are the j)laces where such prodigies are to be made 
known. These are the sunny spots where the eaglets 
are to bask and first try their young wings for their 
ethereal voyages. Our Colleges are the gardens wiiere 
every goodly plant must be pushed to its full maturity 



12 PROFESSOR hooper's YALTiDICTORY ADDRESS. 

of size and beauty, and where it is to be proved, wbicli 
nature intended as her magnolia-grandifloras, and wliich 
as her lowly shrubs. 

Tills then is one grand benefit which our Colleges 
ought to subserve, to bring upon one common tiieatre 
the finest minds of the country. They are an intellect- 
ual paZccs^ra where all the agility and pi'owess of the 
State throng to join the lists and contend for tlie prize, 
and where each atlilcte is sure to meet antagonists that 
Avill put his strength to the proof. The country, in tiiis 
way, finds out who are her choicest s])irits ; and indeed, 
it is the generous strife of her youtliful sons that brings 
the native mind to its highest perfection, as it is only 
when billow dashes against billow that they toss their 
licads into the sky. Such public blessiiigs tlien, inge- 
nuous youth, it is ill your power to make our Seminaries 
of learning — Seminaries literally they will be — nurse- 
ries, where will grow goodly trees to adorn and to 
jiourish th^ land that generates them, or the worthless 
bi'amble and the deadly aconite. Ever and anon will 
issue from these academic shades some master mind, 
on which heaven has shed its selcctest influence, and 
on whose birth all the muses smiled. He takes his 
stand on the high theati'e of the nation. His country 
listens to his voice — the phalanx of honest patriots 
welcome their Herculean auxiliary — corruption and 
venality tremble in their hiding-places, like Cacus in 
his den, lest his arm should drag them to light and 
extort their ill-gotten spoil — the vast machine of gov- 
ernment is moved at his conti'ol, or if stubborn faction 
• in despite of him will drive it on, he hangs upon the 
wheels and retards their descent, until happier counsels 
obtain the mastei-y, and the cojintn' is saved. In the 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 13 

mean lime, tlie State tliat gave Iiim birth on licr soil, 
and nurture at her breasts, feels lierself more than re- 
paid by his single fame for all her expenditures, =^ and 
liis Alma Mater, as she l»ears from afar tlie trumpet of 
his renown ring among her classic sliades and grottos, 
calls upon her younger sons to sing iiceans of triumjih 
for their elder brother, and to f)I]o\v with their eyes 
and their steps his luminous track along tlie heavens. 
But suppnse a College j)i'()duces a splendid genius, only 
once in a ceiUury, are we to reckon as nothing in the 
mean time a general diffusion of scientific curiosity and 
literary I'clinement ? Who can calculate the amount of 
public happiness produced by a taste for books. How 
many minds are thereby diverted from ruinous dissi- 
pation, or kept from rusting in inglorious sloth ? As 
you disseminate a taste for science and literature, you 
multiply (he readers of books ; and, as you multiply 
readers of books, you stimulate the writers of them to 
more powerful efforts, and you breathe ..into them ii 
kindlier inspiration. The theatre widens and spreads 
])erpetually on v/hich each genius is to figure — tlie del- 
icacy of taste and acuteness of criticism, of which it 
must stand the test, will er.sure all tlie vigour of tiiouglit 
and exquisiteness of finish whicli it is possible to attain, 
and while mediocrity is overawed and kept in merited 
obscurity, the daring pinion of real genius soars higli 
above the shafts of criticism, and leaves the fraternity 

*It is said that when Mr. McUuffie made the first display of his elo- 
quence in the Legislature of South Carolina, a member rose in his place 
and remarked, that if the College of ihat State had reared no other 
yo'jth, to have reared him alone was ample indemnity to the State for 
all its expenditures. 



14 rROFESSOll HOOPEU'S VALEDICTORY ADDllESS. 

of critics like the rest of tlie world, far below in this 
nether sphere. 

Perhaps some of you may think that a College might 
be made what I describe it to be, the nurseiy of genius, 
but that the course of studies is not the best calculated 
to improve tiie mind. Some may think that they could 
dictate a better course themselves — that so much time 
ought not to be given to the acquisition of Ancient Lan- 
guages, and to abstruse Science. These, therefore, 
will neglect the prescribed course of study, and either 
give themselves up to indolence or rove at random among 
the volumes of a large Library, as fancy or accident 
may determine. But sucli persons should reflect that 
tl»c system of studies usually pursued in Colleges, has 
been the result of the combined wisdom of the world — 
that men of every variety of profession and character 
have had a share in adjusting this system, and that it 
is not likely such a unanimity of sentiment would have 
occurred witiiout good and solid reasons. Sometimes 
the Classics have been for a while exploded from the 
Collegiate course. It was so, I believe, in France, in 
revolutionary times, when every thing that was oW, 
was for that reason thought to be bad, and when daring 
innovations in Government, Religion and Education, 
were the reigning madness of the day. 13ut after the 
fever of Revolution had subsided, France returned with 
ardour to the cultivation of the Classics, and saw that 
they wei'e an essential part of a good education. The 
truth is, there is so much valuable tliought and so much 
fine writing embodied in the Greek and Roman autiiors, 
that it is my firm opinion, if they were excluded from 
the course of general Education, and confined, like the 
masterpieces of Painting, of Sculptuie, and of Archi- 



PROrESSOR HOOPER S VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 15 

tecture, to certain favored cities of Europe, you would 
see the literati of the world i)erforming pilgrimages to 
these cities, to spend years in the acquisition of those 
languages which contained, locked up in them, the finest 
models of taste and genius that the world has produced ; 
just as our Painters and Sculptors consider it necessary 
to visit Italy and Greece, to take lessons in those arts 
from the great masters of antiquity. All the difference 
between that and the present state of things, would be, 
that the beauties of Homer and Virgil, of Cicero and 
Xenophon, which are now accessible to every studious 
youth, whose mind is aliveto the charms of composition, 
would then be the envied privilege of a few who could 
travel abroad, and tell to sighing devotees at home, of 
sweets and beauties that they must not see or taste. — 
A visiter to the Iliad would talk of it, as a traveller to 
Egypt now talks of a visit to tlie Pyramids. 

And w ith respect to Mathematics, there is the same 
general consent over tlie world, tiiat if the minds of 
youth are to be trained to a power of clear, consecutive 
thought, to the love of rigid demonstration, to a fiiculty 
of close, logical argumentation, this kind of study is 
admirably fitted to that end. But, independently of 
this recommendation of Mathematics as a method of 
ilisciplining the mind, it is the peculiar glory of that 
Science, that it has opened to our astonislied view all 
the w^onders of Astronomy, revealed the great system 
of nature's works, disentliralled the public mind of the 
lerrors occasioned by eclipses of the heavenly bodies, 
and made tlie celestial phenomena no longer subjects 
of mute amazement and superstitious dread, but of 
j)r()ud delight at the nobleness of our capacities and of 
pious adoration at the stunendous greatness of nature's 



16 

architect. In llicso sublime discoveries of pliysics, 
Mathemfitics has led the wny, and behold hergi-eat high 
priest, Newton, leading the procession, with torch in 
Jiand, guiding tiie explorers of nature tiiro' the dark 
regions of her undiscovered wonders ! I might, if time 
allowed, young gentlemen, thus enlarge upon all the 
branches of knowledge which are made successively 
the subjects of your study. I might show you how, af- 
ter your memory, your discrimination, your fancy arc 
cultivated by tiie study of the finest models of ancient 
genius, and after your intellectual jjowers have been 
tasked and invigorated by a manly grappling with the 
subtle problems of Mathematics, you are then conduct- 
ed to the walks of Philosophy, both ])hysical and ethi- 
cal. Your juvenile curiosity is excited and rewarded 
by pursuing the footsteps of Nature into the \evy pen- 
etralia of her temple — exploring with delight and ever 
new amazement the wise and beautiful laws which the 
Creator has enstamped on every v. ork of his hands, and 
by which he binds them all together in one harmonious 
universe — learning in a few years what the arduous 
and collective labors of Chemists, and Mineralogists, 
and Botanists, and Naturalists of every description 
have treasured up by piecemeal through whole lives of 
unceasing research. 

And, as if the external world, with all its tan thou- 
sand objects of curiosity, were not enough to fill your 
mir.ds and limit the field of your enquiries, lo! an.other 
world of miracles is opened wi^/ii/z you ! The mind, 
already intoxicated and oppressed with the riches of 
its knowledge, drawn from exlernal nature, is now 
called, with introverted vision, to contemplate its own 
iDvstcrious and marvellous constructure — to studv the 



1*R0FESS0U hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 17 

subtle and complicated movements of tliought and feel- 
ing—to look into the dark chambers of imagery, and 
trace the nice machinery of ideas, and sec in these deep 
foundations of the mind the embryo features and linea- 
ments of those characters which afterwards develope 
themselves to bless or to vex our species. Who is it, 
that, upon his first introduction to the Philosophy of 
the mind, has ?iot felt something of the same delightful 
wonder which Columbus felt, when he had discovered 
a new world, all whose inhabitants and products were 
different from any thing he had seen before? 

Nor are your researches bounded here. From con- 
templating man as an individual, you are led on by the 
study of ethics, political economy and law, to contem* 
plate him as one of a vast brotherhood — all individuals 
as single links of an immense chain, by a happy neces- 
sity indissolubly connected with cacb otber, and there- 
fore subjected to various laws and obligations as mem- 
bers of families, as citizens of a nation, and then as 
citizens of a whole family of nations. It is the object, 
then, of these dignified and expansive studies, which 
meet you at your entrance upon the threshold of man- 
hood, when your ripening intellect and your sober judg- 
ment begin to qualify you for profound and comprehen- 
sive reflections — it is the object, I say, of these studies, 
of Ethics, Political Economy and Law, to set before 
you the various relations of man to man, ilie mutual 
obligations and dependencies of all members of society, 
thus to prepare you to act your part with propriety, 
first in your little circle at home, then as patriots bound 
to love and serve the country, the blessings of whose 
Government you enjoy, and lastly, should the voice of 
that country invest you with her dignities, to prepare 
S 



18 PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 

you for Statesmen and Lawgivers, whose counsels are 
to affect t!ie destinies of youi* own country, and cveti of 
the world. 

Can you contemplate, young gentlemen, these IjigU 
prerogatives for which a liberal education will fit you, 
and to which the exigencies of your country may call 
you, without feeling your bosoms swell with larger emo- 
tions, and already giving birth to the godlike resolu- 
tion, that you will not, by vice or indolence, blast these 
magnificent prospects ? Does it not fire your youthful 
imagination, to reflect that you are citizens of a pros- 
perous and powerful Republic, where no invidious dis- 
tinctions of Patrician and Plebeian give weakness the 
ascendancy over strengh, and folly the control over 
wisdom — where mind is tiie empress ovei* the million, 
and where a vigorous and cultivated intellect may raise 
you to the highest honors of your country? With such 
prospects before you, with such ennobling motives to 
excite and impel you, we should expect, instead of dull 
sloth or debasing sensuality, rather some excess of glo- 
rious enthusiasm — some pardonable extravagance of 
youthful ambition — some splendid temerity, like that 
of Pii^Topf aspiring to sjiatch the reins of the solar 
chariot, before his hand had vigor or skill to manage 
the fire-breathing coursers. I wonder every youth who 
has within himself the sparks of genius, and the ele- 
ments of high capability, does not have them roused 
into a consuming flame, banishing his sleep and wast- 
ing his frame, fanned as they are by the strong breath 
of fame wafting the praises of the living and the dead. 
The military exploits of Miltiades raised such a tu- 
mult in the breast of tlie young Thbmistocles, that 
he was found walking about the streets of Athens in 



19 

tlie (lead of night, and delared that " the trophies of 
MiLTiADEs would not let him sleep.'' So methinks, 
should it be with every American youth who has a so 
much grander theatre to act upon — not some little At- 
tica to hear of his exploits and to resound his praises, 
hut an empire, reaching from Ocean to Ocean, whose des- 
tinies he may be called to wield, and with whose high- 
est honors he may one day be crowned. Oh, my young 
friends, cherish these iiigh aspirations. If it is not 
your fate to rise to high station, resolve to deserve it. 
Aim high, even though your shafts may not rise as 
high as your lofty mark. He that aims at the sun, 
will shoot higher tlian he who aims at an earthly ob- 
ject. Oh ! do not ye, who daily drink inspiring draughts 
from the Castalean spring, ever turn those lips to 
Circe's empoisoned bowl which transforms men into 
swine. Let the ethereal spirits among you not be kept 
<lown by the grosser particles, but rise to higher re- 
gions and draw^ those particles u}) with them. Let not 
the eagles be content like the sparrows to flutter about 
the hedges, but plume themselves for flight among the 
clouds and bear the sparrows on their rapid pinions. — 
It is not a selfish, mischievous ambition, to which I 
w^ould exhort you. It is an imitation of your heavenly 
Father in diff'usive benevolence, it is that love of lau- 
dable excellence which has the sanction of an Apostle's 
pen, when.he animates us to tlie pursuit of " whatso- 
ever things arc true, whatsoever tbings are honest, 
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever are lovely, whatsoever things are of good 
report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise.'* 
Let every honorable young man determine to find out 
by strenuous exertion what gifts nature has bestowed 



20 PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 

upon him, and resolve to use them for the benefit of his 
country and of mankind. Let him place before his 
mind higli standards of excellence, by perusing the bi- 
ographies of the great and good, and let his mind thirst 
after valuable knowledge, instead of cramming and vi- 
tiating itself with the trash that is ])oured forth daily 
in such pernicious abundance from the press. If you 
faithfully improve the opportunities you liere enjoy, you 
will have the elements of almost all useful knowledge, 
and the stamina of a vigorous mental constitution. — 
Tiie first you may afterwards use as a foundation for 
indefinite future improvement, and as the instrument 
for future acquisitions. The latter will serve you to 
grapple with every occurring difficulty. I would not 
forbid all booLs of amusement and all excursions into 
the fields of fancy and fiction. But beware lest these 
seduce you from the hardy and invigorating studies of 
the College course. Remember, tliat although it is 
pleasing to devour volume after volume, and it is flat- 
tering to our pride to go over a great deal of ground, 
yet it is quite possible to do this without strengthening 
the mind — nay it is the very way to enfeeble the mind, 
toencumber it with a vast mass of other men's thoughts, 
Avitiiout obliging it to exert itself in some production of 
its own. Such a man may accumulate facts, and lie 
may be accui'ate in his opinions so far as his guides 
reach ; but put him upon his own resources, bying him 
into some new situation where he will have to depend 
upon himself, and he will utterly fail. 

Indulge not then in discontent with your allotted 
studies, nor imagine you can strike out a better course 
for your mental improvement. If you do, you w ill for- 
ever afterwards regret it in vain. If, while at College, 



PROFESSOR hooper's VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. £1 

you lay well the fomulatioii, you can afterwards ad- 
vantageously rear upon it a superstructure of any height. 
But if tlie foundation be neglected in youth, the injury 
is irremediable, for neither the time nor tlie inclination 
of maturer life will ever allow of your laying it anew. 
T am happy, young gentlemen, to be able to congrat- 
ulate you on the increasing prosperity of the College. 
Having been acquainted witli it from a boy, in 1804, 
I am prepared to appreciate its growtli and improve- 
ment. Your opportunities are fiir greater than mine 
were when I passed through my College course. The 
education which our Alma Mater now offers to her sons, 
is much more extensive and thorough than it then was, 
and I feel to this day the disadvantages of the partial 
and limited Education which was then given here — 
The funds of the Institution were too small to provide 
adequate instruction. But uow there is a happy change. 
The revenue is, I trust, certain and liberal, and eacli 
department may be supplied with necessary instruction. 
You will have the advantage of prosecuting your Edu- 
cation under an able and devoted Faculty. And in 
taking leave of you, my dear young friends, let me be- 
speak your high affection and respect for your estima- 
ble Preceptors. They are devoted to your good — their 
days and nights are given to your improvement. Re- 
ward them tor tlieir labors of love by growing in wis- 
dom and virtue under their culture. No greater joy 
can they know, than to see you Anc scholars, amiable 
and gentlemanly in your deportment, and of sound and 
virtuous principles. Let me exhort you to a conduct 
worthy of your station and the space you fill in the 
public eye. Consider who you are and wjjat is expect- 
ed of you — 

Sumite superbiam quuesUam ituiilis. 



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022 152 888 8 



V, 




